A Reason for the Season (Hallmark Mystery - 2024)

The movie kicks off with a great rendition of Deck the Halls that might be the new theme song for Deck the Hallmark. Cut to a woman driving in a car, giving herself a pep talk and talking to herself and her baby, whom she is pregnant with. Suddenly, she feels a sharp pain, drives into a town, and runs into a diner, saying she thinks she's going into labor but that the snow is really coming down. Luckily, there’s a doctor in the diner who has personally delivered over 100 babies! The birth is successful, and the baby is healthy. She names her Evie Lang. The group takes a picture to celebrate—there’s a doctor, a police officer, a lawyer, and some other fancy folks. The doctor gives the baby a little checkup and realizes the baby may have an abdominal blockage, so they all work together to get the baby to the hospital. They save the baby’s life, take up a collection to pay the hospital bill, and send them on their way.

Cut to the present day, when the mother, Elizabeth Lane, is giving a speech about the success of her skincare brand, Lane Cosmetics. Evie is now an adult, and her mom brings her up on stage to celebrate the success of women. Evie is clearly uncomfortable being on stage. She’s in fashion but isn’t having much success. Her mom tells her she’s been spoiled and needs to learn how to do something hard. So she gives her the Polaroid of the people who helped her on the night she was born. Her mom explains that Evie has to go and find these people and grant Christmas wishes to each of them. If she fails this mission, she’ll lose her trust fund.

So, Evie heads back to the town and is disappointed by the absolutely massive inn she has to stay in. She goes by the name of Mary so as not to give herself away. She decides to go and ask the only attorney in town for help finding the people in this picture. He says, “I could do that, but why would I?” She says she wants to give them an award. He replies, “That’s not what this town is all about, especially dressed like that.” So, she goes to find an outfit that’s a bit more low-key. They go and grab a bite to eat, and the diner owner tells them the story of what happened that night.

Kyle agrees to help her find the people, but they’re going to go at his pace. Up first is Roy, and Evie ends up being voluntold to be the elf in the town square. The diner owner quickly figures out who she is, and she comes clean. She asks what his wish is. At first, he’s hesitant but tells her to let him think on it. She is blown away by how nice everyone in this town is and realizes that’s going to make it hard for her to finish this project quickly.

The next day, she ends up backing out and almost hitting a police car. Turns out, that cop is someone she needs to repay, but she doesn’t want to reveal her true identity, so she ends up getting arrested. Evie is blown away by the kindness and doesn’t know how she’s going to repay them. She finds out that someone has been this town’s Secret Santa—paying hospital bills, etc., for a long time. She calls her mom, and her mom explains that she tried to repay everyone many moons ago but couldn’t do it. So, good luck, kid. It’s just your trust fund at risk.

The pressure is mounting, and what better way to deal with said pressure than by ice skating with Kyle? She decides to tell him the truth about who she is, and Kyle’s like, “Oh, yeah, I know.” But he was unaware that she was doing this just to make sure she didn’t lose her trust fund. You can tell he’s like, “Oh, boo hoo to you,” but they continue their quest, and he continues to just watch her from afar.

The diner owner is impressed by Evie, and he calls Elizabeth to encourage her to come and see all the good that Evie has been doing in the town. So, Elizabeth comes, and she’s so proud of Evie. She has done so much good. She finds out that Kyle’s dad was the one who took